Eventual
by Cheeky Slytherin Lass
Summary: Druella knows that she'll have to end things with Abraxas. But not today.


_For the Word Count Game Challenge (725-775 words, Druella Black, wine glass, heavy)_

 _Word Count 741_

* * *

"More wine, my love?"

Druella lifts her wine glass, a small smile on her lips. _My love._ Her husband never talks so sweetly to her. But Abraxas has always looked at her as though she is the most amazing thing in the world.

"How long can we carry on like this?" she asks reluctantly.

It's a conversation they have from time to time. They are both married, after all. They should not be hiding away, stealing moments with one another like this, pretending that they don't have spouses waiting for them at home.

They always say that they will stop one day. Always one day. Never an exact date. Never now. Just some obscure date that never seems to come.

Abraxas raises his brows. "Have you grown bored with me already, Dru?" he laughs. "Six years. I have to say that's rather impressive."

She rolls her eyes. "You know I haven't," she says before sipping her wine.

It shouldn't be so difficult to do the right thing. Her morals should win out, and she should laugh at being silly enough to believe that they could continue like this. But Abraxas is right. It's been six years, and half of that time they've been married to other people. Morality means so little when true love is on the table.

She brushes her thumb across the silver band upon her finger. It feels so heavy now. The promises she made out of duty feel like a prison sentence, and the ring is just a reminder that she will never be free to love Abraxas so openly.

"If you wish to end things, I won't stop you," he says gently, stroking her hair.

Druella closes her eyes at his touch. It's almost laughable, really. Abraxas must know what her heart wants as well as she does, and it most certainly isn't to end their relationship.

"We aren't being very proper," she murmurs, shivering as his lips graze her neck.

"And when have we cared for what's proper and not?" he counters.

Druella pulls away. She takes a deeper drink of the wine. She wants him, needs him. The very thought of giving him up is too much, and she can feel her heart ache at that possibility. And yet she knows that they cannot keep this up forever.

"Druella, darling, why is this bothering you now?"

"It has always bothered me, Abraxas," she admits. "From the moment my father decided that I was to marry Cygnus and not you. This is going to end, and we both know it. The longer we delay the inevitable, the more painful it will be when that day comes."

He's silent for several moments. The silence is worse than any anger or disappointment. She can feel the weight of it pressing against her, suffocating her. Druella sucks in a deep, shaky breath.

"It was always going to hurt. Even if you left me after that day when we were fourteen, it would have shattered me," he says quietly, taking her hand and pressing a kiss to her knuckles. "You are part of me, Druella. You always have been, and you always will be."

She opens her mouth but quickly closes it again. What can she say? She knows what she should say. That this is over. That they need to return to their homes and never meet here again. That true love cannot always win.

But the words refuse to fall from her lips. Instead, she throws her arms around him, kissing him with every ounce of passion that she has in her. Abraxas holds her tightly, as though he's afraid to ever let her go. When he kisses her, she can feel her future on his tongue, every possibility that should have been, and she wants to cry. It will never be hers. Not really.

"Can I see you again?" he asks quietly when they finally break away and call it a night.

She can hear the pain and hope in the question, and tears prick at her eyes. She knows that she will have to let things end with him. One day. Not now. Not today.

With a small smile, Druella presses a gentle kiss to his cheek. "I'll send word for you soon," she assures him.

"I love you," he whispers.

"I love you too."

And, not for the first time, she hates her father for dooming her to a life of misery and infidelity.


End file.
